High school student takes on administration

>> welcome back to hard ball . the creationism took a new twist. a high school student opposed a 2008 law that he says is a misguided way to sneak creationism into a louisiana school curriculum . the science education act signed into law lets teachers add to the state approved curriculum with supplemental textbooks and other instructional materials to help students understand, analyze, critique and review scientific theories . critic say that opens the door to teaching about creation. zach led the effort to repeal the law and he won praise for his effort at a new orleans city council meeting where the board voted to support his repeal.

>> i would also on a side note like to thank zach coplin for bringing up this issue to all of us and his very diligence. it is nice to see someone so young really working hard for the betmeterment of education and science in our state.

>> zach , help me with this picture. there is a textbook advisory council . you're there. it is held once every seven years. a reverend stands up and says textbooks are biassed toward evolution and you now take control of the meeting. what happened?

>> thanks for having me on michael. the textbook advisory council meeting, which was about six months ago now, it was a meeting that was meant to decide what textbooks are put back into the classrooms from nowclassroom. what was supposed to ham is a group of creationists were trying to justify using creation supplemental materials in the classroom after that, par the louisiana science education act. now i went to the meeting, and we just said evolution is science , creationism is not science , it should not be in the classroom. we explained it to the board members , and they voted for science , and --

>> 8-4. in other words, there was a vote taken, an the side for which you were arguing was successful 8-4. then you come back now and you say, as i understand it, we should overturn the law that allowed that consideration to begin with. you don't need -- the proponents say it's about critical thinking. the point is you don't need -- that's what science is, the law to teach creationism isn't science .

>> the law was signed into effect by governor jindal. i did not know this that he was a bio major at brown, did you find that interesting as well?

>> i think in his heart of hearts, he understands how evolution is vital to biology. his teacher gave asked him to veto this law, and to not pull up the ladder on other students from his states who wanted to be doctors just like him. so i think -- i think in his heart he really knows how vital evolution is.

>> zach , i tse-tung in cheek most of what i've learned from louisiana is watching "true blood." okay. good, you're laughing.

>> i know that part of your mind-set is you want to deal with the stereotype of louisiana . you don't want to see louisiana lagging behind relative to science . that's what motivates you, true?

>> yeah, absolutely. it makes louisiana students are now going to be -- our science education is not going to compare to the rest of the country. colleges -- let's take rice university , where i'm going to school next year. it won't know -- they could be sure i've been taught evolution or whether my teacher has intimidated by this law. even lsu doesn't want to have to reteach high school biology, so our education is now looked down upon.

>> what does this have to do with michele bachmann ?

>> okay. i'll try to break it into three points.

>> real quick.

>> first presidential candidates shouldn't be allowed to make stuff up, so michele bachmann claimed that nobel laureates support creationism. i have 40 nobel lawyeralities who -- and i asked her where hers were, because she lends false authority , she elevates it to a national debates and gifts lobbyists and politicians in my state who want to put creatism a lot of false authority . if she makes these claims, she should back them up. i've got mine, and i'm asking her to bring hers. i've got 43. can she match that? can she even get one?

>> zack, is there any rumor that your bus is headed to new hampshire this weekend?

>> not as far as i know.

>> i'm joking. good luck at rice.

>> thank you.

>>> thank you, zack kopplin.